Category Archives: News

Radio that Serves the Public Interest

Posted on November 29, 2008 by | 4 Comments

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In 1934, when the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) was created, broadcast licenses were granted to commercial and non-commercial entities. The FCC stated simply that all broadcast licenses must be used in “the public interest, convenience and necessity.”

Recently, a local radio station owned by Goodrich Radio decided to change its format from Disney Radio to what the station is now calling Public Reality Radio. Station owner Bob Goodrich has understood for some time now that there is a void in radio programming in West Michigan, particularly if one is looking for progressive ideas or independent journalism.

WPRR (AM 1680) made the switch to independent information and news programming in September and is carrying a variety of programs. One program that WPRR is running that has me very excited in the award winning show Democracy Now!, with Amy Goodman. Democracy Now! is airing Monday through Friday from 5PM – 6PM on 1680 AM. I say excited for two reasons. First, Democracy Now is an excellent news program that actually believes that the function of journalism is to hold power accountable. Secondly, I’m pretty stoked because I have been involved with an effort to get Democracy Now! on radio in Grand Rapids for years, so this is a big victory.

Starting in May of 2003 there was an effort amongst some of the staff (I was one of them) at the Community Media Center (CMC) to air Democracy Now! on WYCE. WYCE is owned and operated by the CMC and several of us thought that Democracy Now would be a perfect fit for an organization that promotes citizen produced media and independent media. Amy Goodman was the keynote speaker at a regional community media conference in Grand Rapids in May of 2003, so it made sense to make an initial appeal for the program with her visit. About 350 people attended her talk and afterwards we circulated a petition to have Democracy Now on WYCE. Over 200 of those in attendance signed the petition at the conference and another 200 who were at an immigrant rights march that same weekend also added their names to the list. Unfortunately, our efforts were ignored.

In January of 2007, I was at a national Media Reform conference in St. Louis, MO and was again inspired by presentations and conversation between 3,000 people, all of which were committed to democratizing the airwaves. Upon return, www.mediamouse.org began an online petition campaign to get Democracy Now! on local radio (WYCE) and TV (WGVU). We collected over 500 signatures, this time with pledges from people to donate several thousand dollars in pledges to either station if they were to air Democracy Now!

Last spring we learned that the host of Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, was going to be on tour with her third book, so we organized an opportunity for her to speak in Grand Rapids. In early May, we were able to fill Plymouth Congregational Church with people wanting to hear what Amy Goodman had to say. We collected more signatures at that event and encouraged people to come to a CMC board meeting with us to present our petition to air this very popular independent news program.

A group of Democracy Now! supporters delivered the petitions and gave information packets to members of the CMC board. The petitions asked for Democracy! Now to begin airing on WYCE in November, which would give the radio station an opportunity to make the change just after their fall fund drive. Unfortunately, the desire to have this award winning show on a local community radio station was not well received. We were asked why we did not go to WGVU to air this show. If they had read the petitions we submitted, it clearly stated that we were requesting that Democracy Now air on both WGVU TV and WYCE radio.

In the months that followed, several of the Democracy Now! supporters went to more CMC board meetings and got others to send e-mails. In late summer, we were informed that the radio station was “reviewing its purpose statements” in order to re-evaluate its mission, so no programming changes could take place until they worked that out. In October, we sent the new CMC board members a letter informing them of our efforts and asking them to consider airing Democracy Now!. There has been no response to our last letter and it has become increasingly apparent that the CMC is unwilling to consider any programming suggestions from the public.

What makes the response from the CMC/WYCE so frustrating is that it is the same kind of response that I have heard from corporate media over the years when we have challenged them on their programming or news bias.

In 2005, the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) conducted a TV license renewal campaign to both educate the public about broadcaster obligations to the public and as a way to hold them accountable. We conducted about 60 public presentations and got over 1,000 people to sign letters to send to the FCC demanding better local news coverage around issues like elections, war, economics, racism and environmental issues. We even held a public hearing where 130 people publicly demanded these changes. However, despite all of that effort, the local TV stations refused to take seriously any public criticism.

It is unfortunate that the CMC/WYCE has displayed the same kind of indifference to public input and it says to me that they are not serving the public interest. I know that there are WYCE listeners who would disagree with my analysis here based on a desire to maintain an “all music format.” Well, the station already has some information programming like Catalyst Radio and Acoustic Cafe, so why not air an award winning program that will occupy 5 hours a week out of a total of 168 hours that WYCE broadcasts each week.

Fortunately, WPRR 1680 AM has been listening to the public interest and decided to air programming that is sorely lacking in this community. I would encourage folks to tune in to this new station, particularly to Democracy Now! weekdays at 8am and 5pm. I would also encourage people to contact them to show your support and to give them any ideas on other possible programming that serves the public interest.

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Obama’s Economic Team mainly Centrists

Posted on November 26, 2008 by | Comments Off

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Over the past few days, president elect Barack Obama has made several statements about the economy. These have included announcements of several key officials, including the nomination of Timothy Geithner for Treasury Secretary and Lawrence Summers as National Economic Council director.

Unfortunately, Obama’s choices are overwhelmingly “centrist” and do not have a history of progressive views. Both Geithner and Summers had key roles in establishing policies that led to the financial crisis. Similarly, UC-Berkley professor Christina Romer, who has been named Director of the Council of Economic advisors, has views that “appear to place her well to the right of mainstream Democratic economic opinion.”

However, this has been met with considerable silence from progressives–a surprising fact given that even such establishment outlets as The New York Times have criticized his economic picks. To be sure, MediaMouse.org hasn’t had a lot of positive things to say about Obama’s picks thus far. However, our critiques are rooted in what we believe to be strategic. We believe that because Obama–however accurately or not–ran on “progressive” themes with the wide support of the progressive left in the United States, progressives should push him as far as they can.

Moreover, such efforts can make a difference. As an example, one should look towards the effort to oppose the nomination of John Brennan as CIA Director. Brennan–who supported the Bush administration’s torture program–withdrew his name from consideration following pressure from psychologists and liberal bloggers.

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10 Worst Corporations of 2008

Posted on November 26, 2008 by | Comments Off

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Multinational Monitor has released its annual list of the ten worst corporations of the year. This year, when the financial crisis is on the minds of many, the list includes AIG, a company which rose to prominence for its role in the financial crisis, alongside others such as Cargill, Chevron, and General Electric (GE).

The magazine writes that the financial crisis is in many ways emblematic of the worst of the corporate-dominated political and economic system. The financial crisis highlights many of the problems that Multinational Monitor has sought to expose, including improper political influence, non-enforcement of regulations and deregulation, and short-term thinking. Additionally, the crisis shows how much the US economy shifted towards the financial sector with an emphasis on profit over social use. However, Multinational Monitor says:

“What is most revealing about the financial meltdown and economic crisis, however, is that it illustrates that corporations — if left to their own worst instincts — will destroy themselves and the system that nurtures them. It is rare that this lesson is so graphically illustrated.”

Of course, it wasn’t just the financial companies that were misbehaving. Multinational Monitor’s list–reprinted here–includes a broad range of companies:

AIG: Money for Nothing

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There’s surely no one party responsible for the ongoing global financial crisis.

But if you had to pick a single responsible corporation, there’s a very strong case to make for American International Group (AIG).

Credit default swaps are effectively a kind of insurance policy on debt securities. Companies contracted with AIG to provide insurance on a wide range of securities. The insurance policy provided that, if a bond didn’t pay, AIG would make up the loss.

AIG’s eventual problem was rooted in its entering a very risky business but treating it as safe. First, AIG Financial Products, the small London-based unit handling credit default swaps, decided to insure “collateralized debt obligations” (CDOs). CDOs are pools of mortgage loans, but often only a portion of the underlying loans — perhaps involving the most risky part of each loan. Ratings agencies graded many of these CDOs as highest quality, though subsequent events would show these ratings to have been profoundly flawed. Based on the blue-chip ratings, AIG treated its insurance on the CDOs as low risk. Then, because AIG was highly rated, it did not have to post collateral.

Through credit default swaps, AIG was basically collecting insurance premiums and assuming it would never pay out on a failure — let alone a collapse of the entire market it was insuring. It was a scheme that couldn’t be beat: money for nothing.

Cargill: Food Profiteers

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The decline of developing country agriculture means that developing countries are dependent on the vagaries of the global market. When prices spike — as they did in late 2007 and through the beginning of 2008 — countries and poor consumers are at the mercy of the global market and the giant trading companies that dominate it. In the first quarter of 2008, the price of rice in Asia doubled, and commodity prices overall rose 40 percent. People in rich countries felt this pinch, but the problem was much more severe in the developing world. Not only do consumers in poor countries have less money, they spend a much higher proportion of their household budget on food — often half or more — and they buy much less processed food, so commodity increases affect them much more directly. In poor countries, higher prices don’t just pinch, they mean people go hungry. Food riots broke out around the world in early 2008.

But not everyone was feeling pain. For Cargill, spiking prices was an opportunity to get rich. In the second quarter of 2008, the company reported profits of more than $1 billion, with profits from continuing operations soaring 18 percent from the previous year. Cargill’s 2007 profits totaled more than $2.3 billion, up more than a third from 2006.

Chevron: “We can’t let little countries screw around with big companies”

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One of the inherited legacies from Chevron’s 2001 acquisition of Texaco is litigation in Ecuador over the company’s alleged decimation of the Ecuadorian Amazon over a 20-year period of operation. In 1993, 30,000 indigenous Ecuadorians filed a class action suit in U.S. courts, alleging that Texaco had poisoned the land where they live and the waterways on which they rely, allowing billions of gallons of oil to spill and leaving hundreds of waste pits unlined and uncovered. They sought billions in compensation for the harm to their land and livelihood, and for alleged health harms. The Ecuadorians and their lawyers filed the case in U.S. courts because U.S. courts have more capacity to handle complex litigation, and procedures (including jury trials) that offer plaintiffs a better chance to challenge big corporations. Texaco, and later Chevron, deployed massive legal resources to defeat the lawsuit. Ultimately, a Chevron legal maneuver prevailed: At Chevron’s instigation, U.S. courts held that the case should be litigated in Ecuador, closer to where the alleged harms occurred.

CNPC: Fueling Violence in Darfur

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Many of the world’s most brutal regimes have a common characteristic: Although subject to economic sanctions and politically isolated, they are able to maintain power thanks to multinational oil company enablers. Case in point: Sudan, and the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Oil money has fueled violence in Darfur. “The profitability of Sudan’s oil sector has developed in close chronological step with the violence in Darfur,” notes Human Rights First. “In 2000, before the crisis, Sudan’s oil revenue was $1.2 billion. By 2006, with the crisis well underway, that total had shot up by 291 percent, to $4.7 billion. How does Sudan use that windfall? Its finance minister has said that at least 70 percent of the oil profits go to the Sudanese armed forces, linked with its militia allies to the crimes in Darfur.”

Constellation Energy: Nuclear Operators

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Although it is too dangerous, too expensive and too centralized to make sense as an energy source, nuclear power won’t go away, thanks to equipment makers and utilities that find ways to make the public pay and pay.

Case in point: Constellation Energy Group, the operator of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland. When Maryland deregulated its electricity market in 1999, Constellation — like other energy generators in other states — was able to cut a deal to recover its “stranded costs” and nuclear decommissioning fees.

Dole: The Sour Taste of Pineapple

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Starting in 1988, the Philippines undertook what was to be a bold initiative to redress the historically high concentration of land ownership that has impoverished millions of rural Filipinos and undermined the country’s development. The Comprehensive Agricultural Reform Program (CARP) promised to deliver land to the landless.

It didn’t work out that way.

Plantation owners helped draft the law and invented ways to circumvent its purported purpose.

Dole pineapple workers are among those paying the price.

GE: Creative Accounting

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General Electric (GE) has appeared on Multinational Monitor’s annual 10 Worst Corporations list for defense contractor fraud, labor rights abuses, toxic and radioactive pollution, manufacturing nuclear weaponry, workplace safety violations and media conflicts of interest (GE owns television network NBC).

This year, the company returns to the list for new reasons: alleged tax cheating and the firing of a whistleblower.

Imperial Sugar: 13 Dead

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On February 7, an explosion rocked the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, near Savannah.

Days later, when the fire was finally extinguished and search-and-rescue operations completed, the horrible human toll was finally known: 13 dead, dozens badly burned and injured.

As with almost every industrial disaster, it turns out the tragedy was preventable. The cause was accumulated sugar dust, which like other forms of dust, is highly combustible.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the government workplace safety regulator, had not visited Imperial Sugar’s Port Wentworth facility since 2000.

Philip Morris International: Unshackled

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The old Philip Morris no longer exists. In March, the company formally divided itself into two separate entities: Philip Morris USA, which remains a part of the parent company Altria, and Philip Morris International.

Philip Morris USA sells Marlboro and other cigarettes in the United States. Philip Morris International tramples over the rest of the world.

The world is just starting to come to grips with a Philip Morris International even more predatory in pushing its toxic products worldwide.

The new Philip Morris International is unconstrained by public opinion in the United States — the home country and largest market of the old, unified Philip Morris — and will no longer fear lawsuits in the United States.

As a result, Thomas Russo of the investment fund Gardner Russo & Gardner told Bloomberg, the company “won’t have to worry about getting pre-approval from the U.S. for things that are perfectly acceptable in foreign markets.” Russo’s firm owns 5.7 million shares of Altria and now Philip Morris International.

Roche: Saving Lives is Not Our Business

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Monopoly control over life-saving medicines gives enormous power to drug companies. And, to paraphrase Lord Acton, enormous power corrupts enormously.

The Swiss company Roche makes a range of HIV-related drugs. One of them is enfuvirtid, sold under the brand-name Fuzeon. Fuzeon is the first of a new class of AIDS drugs, working through a novel mechanism. It is primarily used as a “salvage” therapy — a treatment for people for whom other therapies no longer work. Fuzeon brought in $266 million to Roche in 2007, though sales are declining.

Roche charges $25,000 a year for Fuzeon. It does not offer a discount price for developing countries.

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Imprisoned Community Activist’s Case Discussed

Posted on November 26, 2008 by | Comments Off

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The Los Angeles based radio program Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod aired a program yesterday that features some important background information on the case of imprisoned Benton Harbor community activist Reverend Edward Pinkney.

On the program, Prescod interviews Pinkney’s attorney who gives an overview of the case and where the legal process is at, Pinkney’s wife who talks about Pinkney’s incarceration and his activism, and Benton Harbor resident Belinda Brown who talks about the issues facing residents of the city.

The interview can be listened to below, it starts six minutes into the program:

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Reporting on the Bailout: How Corporate Media Protects Corporations

Posted on November 26, 2008 by | Comments Off

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On Monday, the Grand Rapids Press published another front-page story about the “financial crisis,” with a headline that read “Second Citigroup bailout starts at $20B.” The Associated Press (AP) article states, “The government unveiled a bold plan Sunday to rescue Citigroup, injecting $20 billion into the troubled firm as well as guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets.”

The story includes a statement from the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve that states in part, “With these transactions, the US government is taking the actions necessary to strengthen the financial system and protect US taxpayers and the US economy.” Such a claim is never verified by the reporter, so readers never learn how this bailout will “protect US taxpayers.” In fact, the only other source cited in the story was a Citigroup executive who is quoted as saying, “We appreciate the tremendous effort by the government to assure market stability.” After that comment, the reporter doesn’t ask what is meant by market stability or seek out an independent opinion on this latest bailout announcement.

The only critical comment provided in the story is “Critics worry the actions could put billions of taxpayers’ dollars in jeopardy and encourage companies to take excessive risk on the belief that the government will bail them out.” Unfortunately, the “critics” are never sourced in this story so readers have no way of knowing if such a statement has any credibility.

In many ways, this story is typical of how the corporate media in this country has been reporting on this issue.

The story focuses on the response by the government, with some details of the bailout, but limited information on what the causes of the economic crisis are or how it will affect the public. This assessment of US media coverage on the economic crisis is what the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) discovered in a recent study they conducted which tracked US media coverage from September 15 to October 26.

The study discovered that little attention was devoted to how the global economy will be affected. This 6-week study found that the kind of reporting varied depending on the type of news media that people look to for information. For instance, of all the news mediums (Talk radio, Network TV, Online, Newspaper, Cable and News radio), Network TV spent more time reporting on how the bailout will affect the public. News radio spent the most amount of time on how the bailout will affect the global economy and Talk radio spent the most time discussing who was to blame for the economic crisis.

It is important to keep in mind that the PEJ study did not look at what sources were used in either the coverage or the credibility of those sources. However, the sources that we have seen in monitoring the West Michigan media is similar to the AP story cited above, where government and industry sources are dominate. When public voices are heard it is usually framed in the “person on the street perspective,” as we saw in the Grand Rapids Press on November 19.

Fortunately, several grassroots efforts have developed in response to the bailout that at least provides additional and independent information. Break the Bailout is one attempt to provide the public with a different analysis of the economic crisis.

For example, much has been reported on how AIG executives have continued to spend extravagant amounts of money on conferences even after they asked the US government to bail them out. However, this is the norm for the financial institutions that have approached the government for a bailout. Break the Bailout has reported that Goldman Sachs, upon hearing of the government committing to their $10 billion bailout, “responded by anointing 92 new members into its exalted status of partnership, and announcing bonuses of $210,000 per employee for 2008 — a total bonus pool in excess of $6.8 billion.”

Other omissions in the coverage of the financial crisis by the corporate media are how this bailout will affect the funding of other serious issues. The Institute for Policy Studies just released a report which states that the “approximately $4.1 trillion that the United States and European governments have committed to rescue financial firms is 40 times the money they’re spending to fight climate and poverty crises in the developing world.”

Lastly, what would it look like if the AP story cited above on the Citigroup bailout had included any contextual information on this global banking company?

Readers would discover that Citigroup has a history of funding environmentally destructive projects around the world, that they contributed over $4 million to political candidates in the 2008 election cycle, and that they have been one of the most aggressive companies in pushing for deregulation of the global markets.

Such facts might change how people think about the Citigroup bailout.

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National and International Headlines for November 26

Posted on November 26, 2008 by | 1 Comment
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Headlines from Democracynow.org, a daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 650 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the US.

Federal Reserve & Treasury Announce New $800 Billion Plan

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury have announced plans to essentially create a government bank and to pump $800 billion into new lending programs in the latest attempt to revive the nation”s crippled financial system. The government has now assumed nearly eight trillion dollars in direct and indirect financial obligations over the past year. Under the latest plan, $600 billion will be spent to buy mortgage-related debt and securities and $200 billion to back financing for other forms of lending including credit cards, auto purchases, and loans for students and small business.

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson: “It will take time to work through the difficulties in our markets and our economy, and new challenges will continue to arise. I and my regulatory colleagues are committed to using all the tools at our disposal to preserve the strength of our financial institutions and stabilize our financial markets, to minimize the spillover into the rest of the economy.”

FDIC: 171 Banks Face Possible Failure

The number of banks facing possible failure has jumped by almost 50 percent in the last quarter. 171 banks are now considered problem banks by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. So far this year 22 banks have failed including Washington Mutual, the biggest bank to go under in U.S. history.

Obama Pledges Gov’t Spending Cuts

On Tuesday President-Elect Barack Obama nominated Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag to be the director of the White House budget office. Obama instructed him to closely examine federal spending to cut out wasteful programs.

President-Elect Barack Obama: “But if we are going to make the investments we need, we also have to be willing to shed the spending that we don’t need in these challenging times. When we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option; it is a necessity. We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist solely because of the power of a politician, lobbyist, or interest groups. We simply can’t afford it.”

Report: Gates to Remain As Defense Secretary

President-Elect Obama has also reportedly decided to keep Robert Gates as Defense Secretary. Gates has lead the Armed Forces for the past two years overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates has proposed sending 20,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Gates will become the first Pentagon chief to be carried over from a president of a different party.

John Brennan Withdraws Name From Consideration As CIA Director

Obama’s top candidate for director of the Central Intelligence Agency has withdrawn from consideration amid protests. John Brennan served as one of former CIA director George Tenet’s closest aides and has publicly supported the CIA’s policies of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ and extraordinary rendition. Brennan’s possible nomination was opposed by many human rights activists, psychologists and bloggers. In a letter to Obama, Brennan said he did not want those concerns to be a “distraction” for the incoming administration. Former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman appeared on Democracy Now on November 17 to criticize the possible selection of Brennan.

Melvin Goodman: “John Brennan has defended the warrantless eavesdropping. John Brennan has basically defended all of the violations that were committed at the CIA in the run-up to the war and in the postwar period. So the signal this sends to CIA employees who tried to get it right–and there were a few who tried to get it right–is the worst kind of signal. And if this is Obama’s judgment about a national security team, it’s very reminiscent of what Bill Clinton did in 1993, when he appointed people such as Jim Woolsey and Les Aspin and Warren Christopher and Tony Lake to the national security positions, and all of them had to be removed before the first term was over. So this is very disquieting, what we’re learning now.”

John Brennan will continue to work on Obama’s transition team and will likely play a role in choosing the next CIA chief.

Karzai Calls on Timeline To End War in Afghanistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on the international community to set a timeline to end the war in Afghanistan. Karzai said: “This war has gone on for seven years, the Afghans don’t understand anymore, how come a little force like the Taliban can continue to exist, can continue to flourish, can continue to launch attacks.” Karzai also accused the U.S. and other foreign countries of creating a “parallel government” in parts of Afghanistan.

Top UN Official: Apartheid by Israel

United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann has said the international community should consider using boycotts, divestments or sanctions to pressure Israel to improve its treatment of the Palestinians. The Nicaraguan diplomat compared the situation in Israel to South Africa two decades ago.

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann: “Although different, what is being done against the Palestinian people seems to me like a version of the hideous policy of Apartheid. That can not, should not, be allowed to continue.”

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann’s comments came during a special meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also criticized Israel for its blockade of Gaza.

Ban Ki-Moon: “I call for immediate measures to ease the near-blanket closure of Gaza which leads to worrying deprivations of basic supplies and human dignity, and I unreservedly condemn the rocket fire. The way forward is for all the parties to respect the calm brokered by Egypt and to reach out to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip instead of only punishing them.”

Thai Protesters Seize Airport

The head of Thailand’s powerful army has called for new elections after thousands of anti-government protesters shut down Bangkok’s main airport stranding thousands of travelers. Thai Army chief Anupong Paochinda urged the government today to dissolve parliament and called for new elections to end the political crisis.

Anupong Paochinda: “This is not a pressure that we are putting upon the government, but we are suggesting the government that they should let the people have another chance to make a decision on the future of the country in the new election.”

Protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy have intensified their efforts to topple the government in recent days. On Monday demonstrators forced Thailand’s parliament to shut down. On Tuesday the protesters took control of the airport – the 18th largest airport in the world.

Chaiwat Sinthuwong: “We don’t only stop the government from doing their illegitimate works. We are doing other things to put more pressure on the government and campaigning to get more consensus from Thai people that it is time for this government to leave.”

Ex-Georgian Diplomat: U.S. OK’d Georgian Attack

A former Georgian diplomat has publicly testified that the United States gave Georgia the green light earlier this year to start a war against Russia in the breakaway region of Abkhazia. The diplomat, Erosi Kitsmarishvili, told a parliamentary hearing in Georgia that Georgian authorities were responsible for starting the conflict. For months U.S. and Georgian officials have blamed Russia for starting the hostilities.

Judge Strikes Down Florida’s Gay Adoption Ban

A Florida judge has struck down a 31-year-old state law that prevents gays and lesbians from adopting children. Judge Cindy Lederman wrote: “The best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption.” The state of Florida had argued the ban should be kept intact claiming that gay and lesbian households are more unstable. Florida is the only state that specifically bans all gays and lesbians from adopting children.

Judge Orders Release of Albert Woodfox of Angola 3

A federal judge has ordered the state of Louisiana to release Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who has spent more than three decades in solitary confinement. Woodfox is one of the Angola Three. In July a judge overturned Woodfox’s conviction of killing a prison guard. On Tuesday a federal judge ordered the 61-year-old Woodfox released while he awaits a new trial. Woodfox”s attorneys say he will leave Angola once he finds a suitable place to live. Many supporters believe the Angola 3 were framed for their political activism.

Number of Americans on Food Stamps Set To Top 30 Million

The Washington Post reports the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time ever this month. Anti-hunger activists say the demand for food stamps has been fueled by rising unemployment and food prices. Food pantries and other charitable organizations are also reporting an increase in demand from those in need. In Washington DC calls to the Capital Area Food Bank’s hunger hotline have jumped 250 percent.

National Day Of Mourning Protest Set For Thanksgiving

The United American Indians of New England are planning to hold their 39th National Day of Mourning in Plymouth Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day. The protest is dedicated to Leonard Peltier, the jailed Native American activist.

Activists Prepare For Buy Nothing Day

And activists are planning to mark Buy Nothing Day on Friday. Here in New York Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping is organizing a Dance Your Debt Away Party in Union Square. The magazine Adbusters is promoting an event called “Credit Card Cut-Up.” Volunteers are planning to head to shopping malls with a pair of scissors and a sign offering to cut up people’s credit cards.

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Michigan Tax Policy Slams the Poor

Posted on November 25, 2008 by | Comments Off

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Late last month, the Michigan League for Human Services highlighted a recent report that shows that Michigan’s tax policy is unnecessarily harsh on the poor.

According to the report, Michigan is one of only ten states that taxes families living in deep poverty. It is one of nine states to tax a two-parent family of four earning less than three-quarters of the poverty line ($15,902), and one of just six to tax a single-parent family with two children earning less than three-quarters of the poverty line ($12,398).

Michigan’s ranking should improve next year, as the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) will be available to Michigan families. However, the EITC has already been under attack when legislation was introduced to freeze the EITC because of shortfall in state revenues. The EITC is 10% of the existing federal EITC credit in 2008 and rises to 20% in 2009.

The Michigan League for Human Services has called for an expansion of the Michigan EITC to 25% of the federal EITC as well as a switch to a graduated income tax.

Michigan is one of only seven states with a flat income tax where everyone pays the same rate regardless of their earnings.

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Report: Bailout Spending Dwarfs Spending on Poverty and Global Warming

Posted on November 25, 2008 by | Comments Off

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A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) has found that the United States and Europe have committed $4.1 trillion to rescuing financial firms. This amount is forty times more than they have spent combating climate change and poverty in the developing world.

The report, titled “Skewed Priorities: How the Bailouts Dwarf Other Global Crisis Spending,” opens with the following graph:

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The graph makes it abundantly clear where the US and Europe are focusing their money.

However, the report argues that by not addressing other crises, the US and Europe will face problems in the future:

“The world is facing multiple crises. In the United States and Europe, the financial crisis has now spread to the “real economy,” causing mass layoffs and dire predictions of more to come. In the developing world, many countries were already reeling from a food crisis — even before the financial crisis went global. Increased grain prices cost poorer economies $324 billion last year. And this food crisis is not yet over. While world prices for some products have declined in recent months, declines in the values of most developing world currencies have kept the cost of food in the stratosphere for the world’s poorest. And on top of the financial and food crises, the world faces a climate crisis that threatens the very future of the planet.

All three crises underscore the interconnectedness of every nation on the globe. The forecasts for skyrocketing poverty and joblessness in the developing world are bad news for workers in the richer nations who will likely face even more brutal competition for jobs in a globalized labor pool. The lack of sufficient resources for developing countries to address global warming will contribute to a climate catastrophe with devastating impacts for all countries.”

Despite this, the US and Europe have shown little interest in addressing these problems. They have spent 45 times more on the financial crisis than on developmental aid and 313 times more than they have spent on climate change.

In many cases, the US and Europe have spent more to rescue individual companies than they have in addressing developmental and climate crises. For example:

* The U.S. government spent $23.2 billion in aid to all developing countries in 2007. That’s less than the $29 billion to bail out investment bank Bear Stearns.

* The U.S. Congress has not approved any contributions to the developing world’s climate change efforts. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has spent more money — $13.2 billion — to cover deposits at 19 failed banks than Western European governments have committed in climate finance.

The report argues that by ignoring other global crises, the US and Europe will not be able to escape them, rather, they are just delaying action on issues that will become critically important overtime as they continue to threaten global stability.

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National and International Headlines for November 25

Posted on November 25, 2008 by | Comments Off
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Headlines from Democracynow.org, a daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 650 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the US.

Fed & Treasury To Launch Major New Lending Program

The Federal Reserve and Treasury plan to announce a major new lending program today to jump-start frozen loan markets. The New York Times reports the program would, in effect, create a government bank to finance hundreds of billions of dollars in commercial debt, like car loans, student loans and business leases. The program is aimed at making it easier for consumers to borrow money.

Obama Introduces Economic Team Headed by Geithner and Summers

This comes one day after President-Elect Barack Obama introduced his new economic team, headed by Timothy Geithner, his choice for Treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers, who will serve as director of the National Economic Council in the White House. Obama instructed his team to draft a massive economic stimulus plan that would create 2.5 million jobs and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.

Sen. Barack Obama: “We can’t underestimate the challenges we face. We also can’t underestimate our capacity to overcome them, to summon that spirit of determination and optimism that has always defined us and to move forward in a new direction to create new jobs. Reform our financial system and fuel long term economic growth. We know this won’t be easy and it won’t happen overnight. We will need to bring the best minds in America to guide us and that is what I sought to do in assembling my economic team. I have sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking-both adept experience and a wealth of new ideas. Most of all, who share my fundamental belief that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street without a thriving Main Street.”

Susan Rice Emerges as Obama’s Choice for U.S. Ambassador to the UN

ABC News is reporting Susan Rice has emerged as the leading candidate to be President-Elect Obama’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Rice was one of the Obama campaign’s top foreign policy advisers. Rice is a former member of President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council and a former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. She opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq but has advocated for military action in case of humanitarian crisis. Two years ago Rice co-authored an article advocating for U.S. attacks against Sudan. She wrote that the United States should consider unilaterally striking Sudanese airfields, aircraft and other military assets. Rice wrote: “If the United States fails to gain U.N. support, we should act without it.”

Psychologists Urge Obama Not To Select John Brennan As CIA Chief

200 psychologists have written President-Elect Obama protesting the possible nomination of John Brennan to be either the national intelligence director or CIA director. Brennan is a 25-year veteran of the CIA and was one of George Tenet’s closest aides. Brennan has publicly supported the CIA’s policies of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ and extraordinary rendition. In their letter to Obama, the psychologists write: “His appointment would dishearten and alienate those who opposed torture under the Bush Administration.” Brennan served as Obama’s senior adviser on intelligence during the presidential campaign and is leading the review of intelligence agencies for Obama’s transition team.

Jury Convicts Holy Land Foundation in Muslim Charity Case

A federal jury in Dallas Texas has convicted the leaders of a Muslim charity on 108 criminal counts including support of terrorism, money laundering and tax fraud. The five men all worked for the Holy Land Foundation which was the largest Muslim charity in the United States until the Bush administration shut it down in 2001. The government accused the charity of funneling money to the Palestinian group Hamas. The defendants argued that the Holy Land Foundation was engaged in legitimate humanitarian aid for community welfare programs and Palestinian orphans. Holy Land’s former accountant Mohammed Wafa Yaish said: “It’s a sad day. It looks like helping the needy Palestinians is a crime these days.”

Bin Laden’s Driver Released From Guantanamo

The U.S. military has decided to release Osama bin Laden’s former driver Salim Ahmed Hamdan from custody at Guantanamo and send him back to his home country of Yemen. Hamdan was held at the military prison for five years. In August a military tribunal convicted him on two charges of material support for terrorism but acquitted him of the most serious charges. Military prosecutors had sought a thirty-year sentence but he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison, including the five he had already spent at Guantanamo Bay.

French FM Questions Obama’s Plans To Escalate War in Afghanistan

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says he has doubts about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s plans to escalate the war in Afghanistan. Kouchner says plans to increase troop numbers would only work “in precise areas with a precise task.” He says military power alone won’t stabilize the situation in Afghanistan.

10 Taliban Arrested For Spraying Acid At Girls Walking to School

Afghan police have arrested 10 members of the Taliban for spraying acid at 15 girls and teachers as they walked to school. Several girls suffered burns to the face and were hospitalized. One teenager couldn’t open her eyes days after the attack. The attacks were carried out by hard-line members of the Taliban who believe women shoud not attend school. One of the victims, 16-year-old Susan has been left scarred on her face and hands. She was part of a group attacked in front of the school.

Susan: “It was 8:00 o’clock in the morning, I was going to school with my mother. Two men pulled up their motorbike towards us and threw acid on my face and my mother’s face.”

Members of the Taliban have attacked and destroyed hundreds of schools across Afghanitan since 2001.

Candidate to Head RNC Connected To Whites-Only Country Club

The website Talking Points Memo reports a candidate to become chair of the Republican National Committee was a longtime member of a white-only country club in South Carolina. Katon Dawson announced his candidacy for the RNC chair on Sunday. He is currently the South Carolina Republican chair. For 12 years Dawson was a member of the Forest Lake Club. He resigned from the club in September after local media reports revealed that the country club’s deed had a whites-only restriction. The news come as the Republican party struggles to attract African-American supporters. At this year’s Republican National Convention only 36 of the nearly 2,400 delegates were black, the lowest number in 40 years.

Zimbabwe Blocks Carter, Annan Fact-Finding Trip

Zimbabwe has blocked former President Jimmy Carter, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and South African human rights campaigner Graca Machel from entering the country to assess the humanitarian crisis there. The United Nations estimates about 6,000 people have contracted cholera in recent weeks in Zimbabwe and almost 300 have died. Hundreds of people have crossed into South Africa seeking treatment. Jimmy Carter said the entire structure of the country has broken down.

Jimmy Carter: “We all have a feeling that the leaders of SADC do not know what’s going on inside Zimbabwe, I think they need to send in a team, to make an assessment of what is going on with cholera, with starvation, with crops, with the education system, with the monetary system, and report back to the leaders, what is going on, and I see no reason why the African Union, without interfering in the political negotiations, shouldn’t do the same thing, and I don’t see any reason why the United Nations shouldn’t also send a team in to Zimbabwe, so the whole world would know what we have learned the last three days, and what we have shared with you.”

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Investigation Undercovers Widespread Abuse of Turkeys

Posted on November 24, 2008 by | Comments Off

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A recent investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has found that workers at the self-proclaimed “world’s leading poultry breeding company,” West Virginia’s Aviagen Turkeys, Inc, regularly tortured, mutilated, and maliciously killed turkeys.

PETA’s investigator brought the abuses to a suprervisor’s attention. However, the supervisor responded by saying “Every once in a while, everybody gets agitated and has to kill a bird.”

The group has released a video–albeit quite disturbing–that documents some of this mistreatment:

Among the abuses documented:

* Employees stomped on turkeys’ heads, punched turkeys, hit them on the head with a can of spray paint and pliers, and struck turkeys’ heads against metal scaffolding.

* Men shoved feces and feed into turkeys’ mouths and held turkeys’ heads under water. Another bragged about jamming a broom stick 2 feet down a turkey’s throat.

* A supervisor said he saw workers kill 450 turkeys with 2-by-4s.

* One man said he saw a coworker fatally inject turkey semen and sulfuric acid into turkeys’ heads

Aside from these abuses, PETA reports that “the usual” horrors of factory farming are present at Aviagen, including cramped conditions, dead birds mixed in with living ones, cutting of birds’ beaks with pliers, and overfed birds dying of exhaustion or heart attacks.

Given that 72 million of the nearly 270 million turkeys killed in the United States are killed for holiday meals, PETA is asking people to give up turkey this Thanksgiving. Additionally, the company has setup an online letter generator to help people write to the National Turkey Federation to encourage it to recommend that turkey breeders adopt PETA’s animal welfare plan.

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